Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

Growing up, one of my very favorite dishes was Hawaiian Chicken. I remembered the sauce on the chicken to be sort of a sweet-and-sour type sauce… a sauce that I could happily eat by the bowlful. It goes to show you how much attention I paid while Mom was cooking because when I tried to run through the dish for my mental shopping list, the description came out something like this:

My mom would take a jar of something, some pineapple rings, and some other stuff; mix that up and pour over a cut up chicken and bake it.

That makes for a sucky shopping list. Luckily, Mom is only 30 miles and a phone call away so she was able to quickly fill in the holes around the pineapple:

Jar of something = Heinz 57 sauce

Some other stuff = Honey

The original measurements for that recipe are long since gone but armed with more information than “jar of something,” I was eager to hang up the phone and start cooking because an updated version of my favorite dish from 20 years ago would be on the table in less than an hour!

I’m almost never so content with a meal that I can’t think of at least one tweak and this time was no different. Next time, I’ll increase the amount of sauce because this wasn’t nearly as drippy and messy as it should have been

Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

Juicy grilled chicken tossed with sweet & tangy Hawaiian-style sauce.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Heinz 57 Sauce

Fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into 7 1/4"-1/2" inch rings

2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey, plus more (if desired)

Tobasco sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

6 buns or sandwich rolls

Instructions

Heat grill to medium heat.

Place one 1/2" ring of pineapple into a food processor or blender and process. Puree. Or obliterate. You're looking for a sauce-like end-product.

Pour the processed pineapple into a medium bowl and stir in the steak sauce, honey, and a couple of dashes of Tobasco. Taste and add honey if additional sweetness is desired. Remove 1/4 cup of sauce to use for basting and reserve the rest for serving.

Brush pineapple rings with olive oil and place on the grill. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, until the sugars start to caramelize and nice grill marks have developed.

Pound chicken breasts lightly, just to reach an even thickness. Brush the Hawaiian sauce on one side of the chicken breast and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until internal temps reach 170 (about 6-8 minutes), turning once halfway through. Before turning the chicken, baste with the remaining Hawaiian sauce.

Remove chicken and pineapple rings from the grill when done. Let chicken stand for 5-10 minutes before shredding with two forks. Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the remaining Hawaiian sauce. Divide the pineapple rings and Hawaiian chicken between the 6 buns/sandwich rolls and serve warm.

Haha I love how you remembered watching your mom make the meal. I often have memories like this because you never pay enough attention when you are kid. These sandwiches looks great and more messy sauce sounds like a great idea:)

I know exactly how that is! My mom used to make a Jamaican chicken recipe, and the only thing I remembered from it was that there was ketchup involved, as well as some onions. Luckily, she remembers everything